Joyous Wood

A budget take on Initio's Oud For Happiness, Joyous Wood opens bright and spicy with zesty ginger and bergamot before the heart everyone wears this for emerges: a smooth oud wrapped in a candy-like licorice sweetness and dry cedar. The base brings the cosy, creamy finish - generous vanilla and soft musk over a faint herbal thread - echoing the original's distinctive blend of spice, wood and gourmand warmth. Set against the real Oud For Happiness it reads more two-dimensional, the oud tamer and the licorice-vanilla less rich, so it trades the niche plushness for a leaner interpretation. Projection is moderate and turns close after the first hours, with respectable but not the original's marathon longevity. Even so, for the money it captures that unusual, joyful sweet-oud signature convincingly - a gingery, licorice-and-vanilla woody warmth that suits cooler-weather evenings, dates, the office and formal occasions, reading as confident, cosy and quietly distinctive.